Set-off device and method for railway machines



"May 11, 1965 3,182,604

SET-OFF DEVICE AND METHOD FOR RAILWAY mcnmns R. J. FOXX ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 13, 1962 2 J, WW M Wm fl WW W W 3? May 11, 1965 R. J. FOXX ETAL 3,182,604

SET-OFF DEVICE AND METHOD FOR RAILWAY MACHINES Filed Dec. 15, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORfi. 2086i) .4 fan United States Patent This invention relates to a method and device for 1 setting oh. railway machines, and particularly pertains to moving railway machines with flanged wheels from rails and onto rails.

The object of this invention is a method and device to more easily move railway machines from rails and onto rails.

Another object is a'method and device for setting up railway machines with a reduced number of attending personnel.

Another object is a method and device in which compact, portable means are carried by the railway machine, and such means are used to set off the machine.

Another object is a method and device to set off railway machines by raising the machine and engaging an attached'wheel to a transverse track straddling the spaced rail heads.

Another object is a method and device for setting off railway machines by contacting the ground outside the rail with an outboard wheel fixed to the railway machine, and contacting a transverse track with a smaller wheel fixed to the railway machine. I

Another object is a method and device for laterally moving a railway machine on a transverse track onto a ramp track connecting the ground and the transverse track. 1

Another object is a method and device for laterally moving a railway machine on a transverse track, and controlling the rate of lateral movement to easily roll the machine onto the rail and from the rail.

Another object is a method anddevice to move a railway machine at a roadway or crossing without requiring special equipment for rolling the machine.

The foregoing objects are achieved along with other objects which will become apparent from time to time by the method and device which will be disclosed in detail and which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic front view showing the set-oil device on a railway machine mounted on rails,

FIGURE 2 is another diagrammatic front view showing the set-oif device in one Working position,

FIGURE 3 is another diagrammatic front view showing the set-off device in another working position,

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of the device on the machine,

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic enlarged View of a track engaging wheel assembly,

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic side view showing the ramp track on which the machine rolls away from the rails, and y FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic plan view showing an off-line ramp track onto which the machine swivels.

A railway carriage It is shown riding spaced rails 11 and 12 through contact with conventional flanged wheels 13 and 14. The rails are fixed in the usual bed or ballast 1?. The crossties, spikes and other structures of the conventional rail bed are not shown in the diagrammatic illustration. The carriage may be in any one of numerous forms to meet and handle various job requirements calling for rail transportation.

distance between the rail heads.

* 3,182,604 Patented May 11, 1965 Mounted on the carriage is a power raising means shown here as a hydraulic lifting jack 21. Another jack 22 may be mounted in spaced position as shown in FIGURE 4. The jack is in the general retracted condition indicated in FIGURE 1 and is adapted to contact the ground or rail bed when the ram 23 extends and the platen 24 makes contact with the rail bed;

Associated with the carriage in a generally inactive or retracted position are a pair ,of outboard wheels shown generally as 25 and 26. Each outboard wheel includes a large, preferably inflated wheel 27 rotating about an axis 28 on arm 29 which is pivoted to the carriage as atiitl.

' Clevis type brackets 31 and 32 are fixed to the carriage by bolts, welds or the like, and the arm ends of the out board wheels are fixed in different positions therein. An aperture 33 in the arm is adapted to register with apertures 34 and 35 in the clevis bracket. A pin 36 connects the registered apertures and locks the wheel in a retracted or traveling position with aperture 35, and in lowered or ground engaging position with aperture 34. A track wheel shown as a caster wheel 49 is preferably spaced laterally of the rails and the outboard wheels so that the center of gravity is incased by said caster wheel and the outboard wheels of the carriage.- The caster wheel is held in the inactive or retracted position by a tube or the like 38 which may be secured by welds or other means to the frame of the carriage. The tube is shown to have a square cross section to provide a strong key fit with a square shaft 39. The square shaft is apertured as at 43 to receive a pin 44 Which passes through elongated slot 45 in the tube. The square shaft may be fitted with a bearing plate or the like 47 which is positioned to abut the top opening edges 48 of the square tube when '1 To place the track wheel in active position, the shaft is withdrawn from the top opening of the tube and inserted through the bottom opening of the tube until the bearing plate abuts the bottom edges of the side walls. In this active position, the bearing plate and the tube are predisposed to assume the load from the railway carriage, and such loads are not exerted against the pin which merely fixes the square shaft within the square tube. There are many ways in which the caster wheel could be moved to the active position. For example, the wheel could be pivoted and locked in different positions. This wheel could also be hydraulically operated, and may be rotatively joined to a raising ram so it performs the'two functions of raising the railway machine and ridingthe transverse channel. Of course, the wheel maybe lowered and raised by a ram independent of the raising means.

A transverse channel track St) is carried by the carriage in any one of numerous ways, and such track is adapted to rest on the spaced rail heads 51, 52,and straddle the Means such as a locking finger 53 may be placed on the transverse channel to abut againsta rail head and thereby lock the transverse channel track against lateral movement. The transverse channel may be insulated throughout its length or merely at the bottom portions of the channel which contact the rail heads. The transverse channel track is preferably U-shaped in cross section with the upright arms of the U sneaeea U placed at right angles to the cross arm of the U. This is best seen in FIGURE 4. Such a channel presents a close fitting contact to the opposed planar face of the caster wheel in riding engagement.

A hand winch or the like 54 is securely mounted at one end on the transverse channel track. A line 55 connects the winch to one side of the carriage, and the tension provided from the winch and line controls the rate of lateral rolling of the carriage on the transverse channel track. The winch or other tension means will not be required at a crossing, roadway or the like where there is no marked inclination of the ballast or ground. The outboard wheels and the caster will be lowered to active position to support the machine which may then be pushed onto and off the rail heads at the crossing.

The end of the transverse channel track opposite to the end having the mounted winch is adapted for connection with a ramp channel track such as 56 which may be connected to one end of the transverse channel track by a tongue portion 57 bent at an angle so as to lay on the cross arm floor of the U-shaped transverse channel. The ramp track may also be carried by the railway machine as by resting on or overlapping the transverse track. Other connecting means such as a hinge, a locking lip and slot arrangement or the like may be used. The ramp track is shown in FIGURE 6 with an extension 58 in line with the transverse track so the caster wheel may directly pass from the transverse track to the ramp track free of the rails. It may be otherwise as shown in FEGURE 7 where an extension 59 is off line so the railway machine may be swiveled to a position generally alongside the rails.

The use and operation of our invention are as follows:

Setting off a railway machine from fixed rails is a cumbersome procedure which is especially difiicult when the railway carriage is of very eavy weight, say 500- 3,000 pounds. Such heavy carriages are not easily set off or moved from and onto rail heads with ease by attending personnel. By the method and device shown here, such heavier railway machines, as well as others, are laterally rolled from spaced rail heads riding a transverse channel track positioned to straddle the spaced rail heads.

The steps of the method require that the railway carriage be slightly raised to free the flanged wheels such as 13, 14 from contact with rail heads 51, 52. This small vertical rise of the carriage may be accomplished by manual means, mechanical means or power means such as a hydraulic jack 21 or 22 or both. A transverse channel track 50 is then placed on the rail heads and locked against lateral movement by means such as an abutting locking finger 53 against the rail head 52. A ramp track 56 contacts the ballast or ground 19 which may be slanted or otherwise, and this ramp track is connected to an end of the transverse channel track. The ramp track may be an extension of the transverse track, and may therefore be normally cradled in the transverse track in an inoperative or retracted position. The ramp track may be joined to the end of the transverse track by various means.

The carriage has been shown to have a pair of movable outboard wheel assemblies such as 25 and 26 which are pivoted to the carriage so they can be retracted to a raised inactive position and lowered to an active or ground engaging position outside a rail. The carriage has also been shown to have a track wheel shown as a caster wheel 40 preferably mounted so, together with the outboard wheels, it will incase the center of gravity of the carriage. The caster wheel preferably has a shaft such as 39 which can be keyed into a square receiving tube 38. The wheel may be carried in a raised or inactive position by being mounted on top of a receiving tube and may be lowered to the active or track engaging position by being inserted through the bottom of the tube until bearing plate 47 contacts the bottom edges 49 l of the tube. This caster wheel is positioned within the tube by a pin 44 passing through slot 45 and aperture 43 in square shaft 39.

After the carriage is slightly raised and the transverse track is placed across the spaced rail heads, the outboard wheels and the caster wheel are lowered and fixed in their engaging positions. The engaging position provides that the caster wheel rides the channel of the track and the outboard wheels contact the ground or ballast outside the rail. This is somewhat like a reversed wheelbarrow.

The jack is raised to retracted position and the railway carriage is then rolled laterally as the caster wheel rides the transverse channel track and the outboard wheels ride the ground outside the rails. The carriage rolls easily on the transverse channel track and may be positioned by one or two attending personnel. When the outboard wheels move along an inclined surface, or when the caster wheel rides onto the connected ramp track, the heavy railway carriage may develop a high rolling momentum from gravitational pull. To prevent an uncontrolled rolling of the railway carriage, a hand winch or the like 54 may be mounted on the opposite end of the transverse channel track and a line 55 may be connected to one side of the railroad carriage. This will control the lateral rolling of the railway carriage off the spaced rail heads, and provide a force to pull the carriage onto the spaced rail heads. The tension means will not always be required as, for example, at a crossing or roadway.

The railway machine will roll laterally from the transverse track to a ramp track and vice versa. The ramp rack may be of various lengths but it normally should be sulficiently long so the railway machine is set off clear of the rails. The ramp channel may be an integral unit or it may have an attached extension 58. An off line ramp channel 59 may also be joined to channel 56 so the railway machine may be swiveled on its caster wheel after it is removed from the rail heads.

A set-off method and device has been shown wherein a pair of spaced outboard Wheels are used with an intermediate caster wheel adapted to ride a transverse channel track and a connecting ramp track. The foregoing disposition and number of wheels is preferred because it provides stability for setting off the railway carriage and requires a small number of units and structures. It should, however, be understood that the arrangement and numbers of the wheels, as well as the tracks, may be duplicated and modified in other ways to provide other tracks for other caster wheels and other arrangements for the outboard wheel or wheels.

It will be appreciated that other tension means may be mounted on the transverse track or in other places asso ciated with the railway carriage to control the rate of lateral rolling of the carriage on the track. Means to vertically lift the railway carriage a small distance to free the flanged wheels from contact with the rail heads may be mounted on the railway carriage. Such means may also be carried by the carriage as an accessory unit, or may be otherwise provided. The carriage could even be lifted by an adequate number of attending personnel, with or without the aid of tools such as levers and the like. Various means may also be devised for mounting the outboard and track wheels on the carriage, moving the wheels to engaging position, and then locking the wheels. Such wheels may he slid, pivoted, telescoped and the like to make them movable.

The foregoing invention can now be practiced by those skilled in the art. Such skilled persons will know that the invention is not necessarily restricted to the particular embodiments presented herein. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the terms of the following claims as given meaning by the preceding description.

We claim:

1. A set-off device for a railway machine having a carriage and flanged wheels riding rail heads which includes, in combination, a transverse track adapted to straddle the rail heads at below about the middle of the carriage, a track wheel joined to the carriage and movable to ridably engage the transverse track, means to raise the carriage free from the rail heads so that the track wheel, which is moved to engage the track, may movably support the carriage, at least a pair of supporting Wheels joined to the carriage and movable to rolling engagement with a surface adjoining the rail heads, means to fix the track wheel in its track engaged position, and means to fix the supporting wheels in their surface engaged positions.

2. The set-off device of claim 1 further characterized by and including means to fix the transverse track against lateral movement between the rail heads.

3. A set-off device for a railway machine having a carriage and flanged Wheels riding rail heads which includes, in combination, a transverse track adapted to straddle the rail heads at below about the middle of the carriage, an extension track connected to one end of the transverse track and adapted to engage the ground, a single track wheel joined to the carriage to ridably engage the transverse track, means to raise the carriage free from the rail heads so that the single wheel, which is moved to engage the track, may movably support the carriage, at least a pair of outboard wheels pivotally joined to the carriage and movable to engage the surface outside the rails, means to fix the track wheel in its track engaged position, and means to fix the outboard wheels in their surface engaged position.

4. The device according to claim 3 further characterized by and including means to fix the transverse track against lateral movement between the rail heads.

5. A set-off device for a railway machine having a carriage and flanged wheels riding rail heads which includes, in combination, a transverse track adapted to straddle the rail heads at below about the middle of the carriage, an extension track connected at one of its ends to the transverse track, and the other of its end contacting the ground, at least one track 'wheel joined to the carriage and movable to ridably engage the transverse track, means to raise the carriage free from the rail heads so that the single wheel, which is moved to engage the track,

able to engage the surface outside the rails, means to,

fix the track wheel in its track engaged position, and means to fix the outboard wheels in their surface engaged position.

6. A method of setting off railway machines from supporting rail heads having a carriage and flanged wheels riding rail heads, Which includes the steps of placing a transverse track from the carriage on the rail heads, straddling the rail heads with said transverse track, placing the track at about below the center of gravity of the carriage, raising the carriage to entirely free the flanged Wheels from the rail heads, positioning a track wheel on the carriage to'ridably engage the transverse track, contacting a surface adjoining the rail heads with at least a pair of supporting Wheels movably joined to the carriage, laterally rolling the carriage on the transverse track to move the carriage away from the rail heads, and controlling the rate of lateral rolling of said carriage.

7. A method of setting off railway machines having a carriage and flanged wheels riding rail heads, which includes the steps of placing a transverse track from the carriage on the rail heads, straddling the rail heads with said transverse track, raising the carriage to entirely free the flanged wheels from the rail heads, positioning a track wheel on the carriage to ridably engage the transverse track, fixing the single track in its track engaged position, engaging the surface outside the rail heads'with at least a pair of retractable outboard wheels on the carriage, fixing the outboard wheels in their surface engaged position, laterally rolling the carriage on the transverse track to move the carriage away from the rail heads, and tensioning a line connected to the carriage to control its rate of lateral rolling.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,444,115 2/23 Estergreen 177 1,557,784 10/25 Sharpnack 104-183 1,908,959 5/33 Cullen et al 105177 2,142,360 1/39 Ljungkull 105177 X 2,487,572 11/49 McKee et al. 105-4162 2,762,315 9/56 Talboys 105-177 2,989,926 1/61 Sublett et a1 105177 X FOREIGN PATENTS 679,877 8/39 Germany. 819,455 10/51 Germany.

OTHER REFERENCES Patentanmeldung Material Industrial S.A. Lansanne, German application Ser. No. M23,842 II/20h Bekann. am 12 July, 1956.

LEO QUACKENBUSH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SET-OFF DEVICE FOR A RAILWAY MACHINE HAVING A CARRIAGE AND FLANGED WHEELS RIDING RAIL HEADS WHICH INCLUDES, IN COMBINATION, A TRANSVERSE TRACK ADAPTED TO STRADDLE THE RAIL HEADS AT BELOW ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE CARRIAGE, A TRACK WHEEL JOINED TO THE CARRIAGE AND MOVABLE TO RADIABLE ENGAGE THE TRANSVERSE TRACK, MEANS TO RAISE THE CARRIAGE FREE FROM THE RAIL HEADS SO THAT THE TRACK WHEEL, WHICH IS MOVED TO ENGAGE THE TRACK, MAY MOVABLE SUPPORT THE CARRIAGE, AT LEAST A PAIR OF SUPPORTING WHEELS JOINED TO THE CARRIAGE AND MOVABLE TO ROLLING ENGAGEMENT WITH A SURFACE ADJOINING THE RAIL HEADS, MEANS TO FIX THE TRACK WHEEL IN ITS TRACK ENGAGED POSITION, AND MEANS TO FIX THE SUPPORTING WHEELS IN THEIR SURFACE ENGAGED POSITIONS. 